During the fourth visit of Beyond Boundaries’ Pakistan Afghanistan Joint Committee (PAJC) in Islamabad, as part of the strategic sideline meetings with government stakeholders, the PAJC members met with the Chargé D’affaires, Embassy of Afghanistan, Mr. Zardasht Shams to discuss Pak-Afghan bilateral developments under APAPPS, at Serena Hotel, on September 06, 2018.
Mr. Zardasht Shams while talking to the two delegations said that Afghanistan shares a special relation with Pakistan, which is very dear to it. To improve further the bilateral relations recently both countries have agreed on a comprehensive document in the form of APAPPS (Afghanistan Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity), which shows the positive spirit and will, present on both sides to work together. He further stated that security wise Afghanistan still faces an unstable environment as there has been no decrease in violence, hence Afghanistan is in a rush to resolve the Afghan conflict adding: “I believe Pakistan has a significant influence to expedite that possibility”.
He further said that the statements coming from both leaderships have been very positive. The APAPPS was finalized with both the military and the Foreign Office which shows that when there is will from the civilian government, we can move forward, he said. Elaborating further he stated that now what remains to be done, is operationalizing the APAPPS, the work for which is already underway.
During the interactive discussion with PAJC delegations, Senator Sherry Rehman, a member from the Pakistani delegation, appreciated the Beyond Boundaries Track II initiative and stated that while history seems to be still mucking about on our ability to move forward; it was time to use our resources to move ahead. Posing a question to the Afghan Chargé D’affaires, she said Pakistan’s trust deficit has to be healed. She added: “We see from here that the Taliban have made considerable gains. Where do you see them placed in the imminent discussions and footholds of peace initiatives? Why would the Taliban be incentivized to talk?” In response, Mr. Shams stated that there has been too much exaggeration regarding Taliban’s control. Even under Taliban-controlled territories, the group is under extreme pressure due to aerial bombing operations. They are now also interested in peace talks